Galatians 2:6

"God does not judge by external appearance."

The major problem confronting the Galatian church was the teaching that Gentile believers needed to express their faith in Jesus Christ through Jewish cultural and religious practices. The church in Jerusalem had struggled with this issue for many years. But there were still sincere, well-meaning believers who had not yet understood God’s intention to bring all the peoples of the world to Himself on the same basis: the obedience of faith.

Praise God for His beautiful salvation, based on simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God that this redemption is available to all the world’s peoples without respect to their ethnic or cultural heritage.

Arakanese People of Myanmar and Bangladesh

Arakanese people are “imprisoned in their own country,” according to the Narinjara news agency. Arakanese, and other citizens of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, have peacefully protested for basic human rights. A severe crackdown on these protests have caused a number of people, including Arakanese, to flee into exile to Bangladesh. One such group started the Narinjara news in 2001. Exiles post reports about what is happening in Myanmar on the internet at: www.narinjar.com and warmly welcome comments at their e-mail address narinjar@narinjar.com Narinjara news seeks to be an independent reporting agency.

The Arakanese are thought to be of Thai origin. Long ago they probably came to the hills of Bangladesh by way of Arakan, a region in Burma, after they were driven out of China. Some of them live in Myanmar and northeastern India.

Though they were once pirates who raided ships on the Bay of Bengal, the Arakanese are now farmers. More powerful ethnic groups have driven them into the hills where the land is less fertile. They practice slash and burn farming, and leave the land fallow for a year between harvests.

Arakanese religious beliefs are strongly influenced by Buddhism and Animism. Buddhism holds that all living things have souls, and Animism also holds that non-living things, such as houses, rivers, lakes, forests, and rice fields, have spirits that need to be appeased.